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Monthly Archives: November 2014

Learning this year that living with a spirit of Thanksgiving doesn’t mean dismissing painful and difficult realities or seeing everything through rose-colored glasses. That Thanksgiving and sadness, as it turns out, are not mutually exclusive. That sometimes the things for which we are thankful are also things that we grieve and miss, and things that have come into our lives with some sort of loss attached.

Attempting today to embrace the beauty and brokenness, the nostalgia and longing, the laughter and sadness that seem to be especially muddled and poignant at this time of year. Figuring out how to somehow hold them all at once without dismissing the depth and reality of each of them. Finding there, in that place of being fully present and aware of it all, a thanksgiving that is weighty and, for me, more true.

Thinking today of our Ritz-family (missing your presence around our table and the way your warm hospitality always made every celebration more savory), my grandparents in Vermont (may your last Thanksgiving in the home you have built move extra slow and be extra sweet- how I wish we could be there too!), of Cora and Elias’ family in Uganda (how I miss you on behalf of those kids and how I long to share a table and daily life with you, how I long for your every need to be met and your bellies and hearts to be full of every good thing), of our beloved Dicksons (you are loved and missed more than you know), of all those I love so much and wish I could celebrate with today, of those of you who are hurting and questioning and alone (come to our table!), and of those who have suffered loss this year and who just might be finding it hard to “feel” thankful. May all of our “Thanksgivings” today be more about embracing reality and being present in whatever situation we find ourselves and in that, may we discover the gift of today.

Adoption is important to our family, and, truth is, it has been for a long time now. The definition of adoption found in the dictionary says something about “choosing or taking as one’s own” and by this definition, there are many who have been adopted into our family even before Cora and Elias. There are many grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters who bear no blood relation to us but who are family to us nonetheless. This bond of love draws together unrelated things (in this case, people), and offers whatever it has (physical, mental, emotional) for the well being and wholeness of the other. It is life-giving and essential to our growth and development. Adoptive family is powerful, and we all need the sense of security that comes from being known, and loved, and part of something bigger than ourselves. We have experienced this reality ourselves, and we love extending that same reality to others whenever and however possible. Will you join us in doing the same?

You can start by joining in the celebration of the first World Adoption Day next week. To find out how you can participate, click here: http://worldadoptionday.org

May the world be changed and challenged and a little more beautiful as we celebrate a love that sees, knows, chooses, and embraces. It doesn’t get much better than that.